Look around you

Psalm 24

Look around you.
Everything you see.
Everything you can touch.
Everything that you can hear, or taste, or smell.
Even those things beyond your senses.
All of it belongs to the Lord.

The person you love,
Sitting next to you.
The person you hate,
Who is miles away.
The man on the corner,
Looking for food.
The woman in the hospital,
Having a baby,
Unplanned and unloved.
All of them.
All of us.
Belong to the Lord.

We are all His.
How can we reach Him?
He seems so far away,
As if he is on a hill
High above us.
Out of our reach.

What should we do
In order to try to stand in that Holy Place,
That is called the Presence of God?

Maybe we should start with ourselves.
Wash our hands of sin.
Clarify our hearts to make them pure.
Maybe we should try to avoid deceit
In our souls.
In our words.
In our actions.

A blessing
Endless gifts from God
Await us.
Await all who seek the face of God.
A face known to those who have come before,
A face that can be known to us.

Amen.

What is left for us to do?
What is the next step to take?
Only to look, to search,
Only to lift up our faces,
And feel the light of God on our skin.
To be blinded by the glare of his presence.
Only to look,
To open our hearts,
And to invite the King of Glory
To come in.

Can we know Him?
Can we understand Him?
To us He is the definition of strong.
Mighty.
Sometimes unreachable.
Sometimes too high for our short reach.

And yet,
If we look.
If we lift our faces,
We will find Him.
If we invite Him,
He will come in.
The Lord of Hosts.
The King of Glory.

Amen.